Kiss, Kiss, Fall In Love?
by Koya Saishoku
Summary: Haruhi is the only girl in the Host Club. So what happens when the rest of the guys start to realize that this makes her different... in a very intriguing way? Haruhixjust about everyone. It's better than the summary, I promise. -Ongoing-
1. Chapter 1

**Pairing(s): **TamakixHaruhi, KyouyaxHaruhi, HikaruxHaruhi, KaoruxHaruhi, MorixHaruhi  
**Rating:** PG, I guess...  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters or settings that I use in this story. I'm just borrowing them and putting them in my own situations. No copyright infringement is intended and this is purely written with regards to the Fair Use doctrine, and so on, and so forth, and all that loveliness. So please don't sue or get your knickers in a bunch about any of this, okay? Any original characters or settings will be stated as such. All characters and setting are property of their respectful owners and not me, sad though I am to admit it.  
**Warnings:** I'm trying to give everyone a fair share of Haruhi's affections, but it might get a bit OOC at places. Please also forgive me if it seems that I'm favoring one character over another. Also, I am my own Beta editor, so if you find any typos or anything, please also feel free to point them out.  
**Also:** Please feel free to let me know how I can improve or to give me suggestions. I really appreciate it.  
**Shoutouts:** I'd like to shoutout to TheJadeSpirit and Yue Guang Kuroneko for their awesome Host Club fanfictions. I adore you guys! heart  
**Discription:** Haruhi is the only girl in the Host Club. So what happens when the rest of the guys start to realize that this makes her different... in a very intriguing way?

**---------------**

**Kiss, Kiss, Fall in Love?  
**_Chapter One:_

"Fujioka-kun, will you eat these sweets I made you?"

Haruhi Fujioka smiled. "Thank you," she said, accepting the package from the girl. She opened it and the girls sitting at the table with Haruhi all twittered with excitement. When Haruhi opened her mouth to take a bite out of one of the cute confections, there was an intense silence. She made a sound of delight as she bit into the soft pastry. "It's delicious! Thank you, Katsunara-san." The girls all squealed simultaneously with hearts in their eyes.

Haruhi sighed inwardly. She was used to being treated as a male by the other students at her school by now, but even so, she was glad that there were some people who knew the truth. The six other males that made up the Host Club, a club unique to Ouran High School, knew that she was, in fact, female, but except for a single other person, a fellow freshman named Kasanoda, none of the other students had realized the fact that Haruhi Fujioka was not, indeed, male.

"Say, Fujioka-kun? Do you like anyone?"

Haruhi looked over to the girl that had asked the quiet question, unsure of how to answer. "Well..."

"Do you like someone here?" another girl asked.

"Is it another host?"

Haruhi blanched. "What? I don't..."

"Is it Kasanoda-kun? Does Fujioka-kun like him?"

"Ah, I think I should stop you right there," Haruhi said nervously. "I'm afraid I don't really like anyone like that yet."

The girls all made sounds of understanding disappointment, nodding simultaneously.

"Then, Fujioka-kun, do you think that maybe you could like one of us?"

There was a good deal of head nodding and glimmers of anticipation in the girls' eyes at the question.

"I don't know," Haruhi said slowly and vaguely. "Things like that just tend to work out in their own time, don't you think?"

The girls nodded, once again with hearts in their eyes. Haruhi heard more than one whisper about "how cool Fujioka-kun is" and smiled outwardly, while inwardly, she was sighing heavily once more.

Haruhi was glad once the club activities were over for the day, and she began helping Mori straighten the club up once more.

"Haruhi!" an adoring voice rang out shortly before Tamaki, the self-proclaimed Host Club King, sprang onto Haruhi, hugging the boyish girl tightly.

"Tamaki-sempai? What is it?" Haruhi asked, outwardly confused while being inwardly resigned to this sort of behavior from Tamaki.

"Daddy wants everyone to go to the beach again!" Tamaki declared with a childlike sparkle in his eyes.

"Neeeh? That again? How lame," the voices of Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin interrupted simultaneously as the two boys both shrugged. The identical twin brothers were also members of the Host Club and were almost as childlike as Tamaki, but while Tamaki was like a naïve, easily pleased child, the twins had a naughtier, more devilish twist to their personalities.

"Besides, haven't we been on two beach trips this school year?" Hikaru asked straightforwardly.

Kaoru nodded. "Tono should at least remember them."

"And in any case, what's the point?" they asked in sarcastic unison.

Tamaki looked more dismayed with every sentence.

"Nee, nee. The beach, Tama-chan?" Haninozuka Mitsukuni asked, skipping toward Tamaki with a grin. "Can we wear our swimsuits again? Can I bring my Usa-chan float-ring?"

Tamaki looked gloomily over out the windows. "No one wants to go with Daddy's plan," he muttered, utterly ignoring Hunny's question.

"Hm. Could it be...?" Kyouya Ootori looked up from his notebook, his eyeglasses reflecting the light of the room. "Does Tamaki really want to see Haruhi in a swimsuit that badly now?"

Haruhi's face lost most of its color briefly before it flooded back into her face. "Just a moment, please! Who's going to decide that I am going to wear a swimsuit?" She looked frustrated and her cheeks were slightly flushed, mostly with embarrassment.

Tamaki had the barest hints of a blush on his cheeks as he looked at Haruhi and thought of her in a swimsuit. For once, he did not begin yelling about the impropriety of his cute, beloved little daughter showing any skin before she was married, but instead remained completely silent.

"Ohh, I see," the twins commented slyly, getting right in front of Tamaki's face, snapping him out of whatever reverie he had been in. "The true intentions finally begin to surface, eh?" There were mischievous glints in their eyes as they posed with their fingers cradling their chins. Then, suddenly, they both snapped and pointed at Haruhi. "Haruhi! You're coming with us!"

Haruhi stared, her face a mask of horror-struck innocence. She shook herself out of it, physically shaking her head back and forth and crossed her arms in front of her in a large X shape. "No way. I refuse this time. You guys may be able to force me to do a lot of things, but this--"

"One third."

Haruhi froze, glancing back at Kyouya. She repeated his words quietly as a question, not quite sure what they meant.

"If you do this, I'll lower the amount of designations you must receive by one third."

Haruhi stared. Why would Kyouya, the 'Shadow King' of the Host Club, lower her debt so drastically if she merely agreed to go to the beach? It didn't make any sense. She attempted to study any hidden meanings that might have resided in his fathomless black eyes, but saw only the glass reflecting the room lights instead.

"Well?" Kyouya prompted her. "Maybe, instead, you wish to keep the debt as high as it is?" he asked with a dark smile. His head tilted to a slightly different angle so Haruhi could see past the glare of the lights and into his cold, calculating eyes.

"I..." Haruhi started, and then sighed heavily. "All right. I'll do it."

The twins exulted loudly and Tamaki's face reddened with a fierce blush as Hunny bounded with excitement and Haruhi sighed submissively. Mori and Kyouya remained relatively silent, Mori simply giving her a smile and Kyouya adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Then it's time for the Dress-Up Haruhi Game: Beach Edition!" the twins both declared in unison as they each hooked their elbows through her arms. They grinned and Haruhi looked pleadingly up at them.

"Kaoru-kun, Hikaru-kun, why do I have to do this?" Haruhi begged pleadingly.

Instead of saying anything, they just smiled devilishly and dragged her out of the third music room.

**---------------**

Haruhi fell into a seat the twins fairly pushed her into and looked worriedly up at them as they whirled through a whole room full of swimsuits on various mannequins. They every so often would ask the other's opinion on one suit or another, but each one got a simple shake of the head.

"Anou, Hikaru-kun? Kaoru-kun?" Haruhi tried, only to be unanswered.

The twins finally reached each other in front of one swimsuit. As they both stared at the pink and red outfit, they nodded before glancing at each other, and then at Haruhi.

Haruhi looked cautiously at them as they approached her, hiding the outfit from her view. "Anou..."

The twins smiled. "We've found the perfect thing, Haruhi-chan," Kaoru promised.

"You'll look perfect in it," Hikaru added, nodding.

Haruhi swallowed as they revealed the outfit to her. In fact, she wondered if it really was a swimsuit. It reminded her of something she had seen in the intimate apparel section once, and had quickly passed over. She timidly pleaded with them both with her eyes. "I have to wear this...?"

The twins nodded. "And if you don't change into it, we'll change you into it instead."

Haruhi snatched the outfit from them with an indignant blush. "I don't think so. Just... wait here, I guess," she sighed resignedly as she went off to change in the dressing room.

**---------------**

Kyouya sighed as he opened his notebook and let his eyes begin scanning the page. As he began relaxing in the chair, he felt a slight tapping on the back of his shoulder. As he turned his gaze away from the paper, he sighed. "What do you want now, Tamaki?" he asked quietly.

"Kyouya, how could you say that earlier?" Tamaki asked with a pout, his bright bluish eyes almost watering from the betrayal he implied in his voice.

"How could I say what?" Kyouya asked simply in response, adjusting his glasses in an indifferent manner.

Tamaki blushed, looking up at Kyouya with an expression similar to a kicked puppy. "That... about Haruhi... that you said earlier!" he whined.

Kyouya's expression was blank. "I have no idea of what you mean," he stated plainly, moving to stand up.

"Kyouya!" Tamaki whined, grabbing hold of the Shadow King's arm desperately. "I don't simply want to see my cute daughter in a swimsuit! That wasn't why the reason I wanted to go to the beach!"

The door opened and Kyouya glanced past the groveling Tamaki. "I see. Well, then this sight shouldn't affect you at all."

Tamaki followed where Kyouya was now pointing and his eyes fell upon Haruhi standing in the doorway, framed by the twins. She was wearing a two-piece bathing suit with a bikini-style bottom that shaped her hips and thighs wonderfully and a top that accented and emphasized her otherwise diminutive bust line. A translucent pink skirt was wrapped around her waist at an angle and tied loosely, letting the bottom part of the swimsuit peek out over the top of it teasingly.

Kyouya watched as Tamaki's face took on a pinkish hue once again. He smiled slightly in victory, knowing that he had once again hit the nail on the head when it came to Tamaki's emotions, as he always did. His shadowy eyes then slid to take in Haruhi, standing shyly in an outfit that looked like it could have passed off for a set of undergarments if it had not had the distinctive look of a swimsuit to it. The way it fit her, clung to her figure, made her look simply scrumptious. Not that he would think things like that. He sighed. If they went to another outdoor beach, he would have to make doubly sure that she did not run into trouble again.

"Tada!" the twins announced, twirling Haruhi around bodily.

"So?" Hikaru asked, wrapping an arm around Haruhi's waist.

"What do you think?" Kaoru finished his twin's question as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Haruhi flushed in embarrassment. She was practically undressed, and these guys were being just as touchy-feely as they could possibly be. She wasn't completely sure that she disliked the feel of Kaoru's arm holding her against his side warmly, nor the way Hikaru's arm fit around her waist as if designed for it, but having Tamaki staring at her as she was pressed against the twins' warm, tall figures made her more than a bit nervous.

"Haru-chan's so cute!" Hunny squealed, bounding up to her and hugging her tightly around the waist, forcing Hikaru and Kaoru to release her. "You match Usa-chan!" he grinned, holding his stuffed bunny toy up to her, his eyes alight with happiness.

"Ah," was all Haruhi could manage as she slowly accepted the offered toy. She glanced up and found Mori standing beside her, having followed Hunny. He placed a warm, large hand on her shoulder comfortingly, standing above her and smiling gently.

"It's cute," was all that the quiet senior said in his deep, warm voice as Hunny climbed onto his back, grinning and agreeing.

"Haruhi! So adorable!" Tamaki proclaimed, racing up to spin her around as he held her tightly in an embrace. When he finally stopped, he nuzzled her cheek with his own, grinning widely and never ceasing in his declarations of how cute she was.

Haruhi sighed. At least all these rich guys thought she looked all right. Supposing that they knew more about appearances than she did, she smiled slightly, and soon felt the weight of someone's gaze on her from the other direction.

Kyouya shifted his glasses as he watched her, feeling something slightly like nervousness. As Tamaki spun her around, Kyouya could see the expanse of her bare back, normally hidden beneath the formal and stifling standard-issue male outfit of Host Club's high school section, now broken only by the thin fabric of the back of the top. Kyouya saw each of the delicate curves and slight lines of her thighs and hips, usually concealed by the straight black slacks that she wore every day as part of her school outfit, but that were now accentuated by the swimsuit bottoms as the fabric clung to her delicate frame, almost teasing him in a cruel way as it hid behind the thin fabric of the skirt.

Haruhi glanced up past Tamaki's arm and saw Kyouya watching her with an unfathomable expression in his dark gray eyes. Once her eyes connected with his, though, the hints of emotion that lay there in wait receded, and he smiled, suddenly businesslike, at her.

"Since we have nothing else to do next Friday afternoon, we will go to one of my family's beaches for the weekend," Kyouya stated calmly, looking over his ledger briefly. He closed it with a snap and looked up as if to ask if anyone had any questions about the plans.

Haruhi sighed. She would have to explain to her dad that she would be gone that weekend. Why did these rich guys have to always be so reckless when it came to making plans? She sighed in acceptance, giving in to the whims of these extremely good-looking guys yet again.

**---------------**

"Tadaima," Haruhi said as she entered her home carrying her books and a bag that contained her new swimsuit.

Kyouya, ever the Shadow King, had said, 'the swimsuit is free of charge as long as you put it to good use on this trip,' with an evil glint of his eyeglasses, emphasizing the thought and reminding her that she was going to have her debt lowered by one third simply by going to the beach and wearing this flashy, skimpy new swimming outfit. She sighed. How did she get into these kinds of situations?

"Haruhi!" her father's voice rang out as he ran in and hugged her tightly. "How was school?" he asked eagerly.

"It was all right," she said, managing to find her way out of his death-hold embrace as she sat down on a chair. "Actually, there's been a sort of trip planned for..."

"For this Friday, right?" Ranka cut her off, sounding as excited as the rest of the Host Club members probably would have wanted Haruhi to sound. "Yes, Kyouya-kun called me a short time ago and told me all about it! I think this will be very fun for you!" he said happily.

Haruhi sighed. She should have guessed that Kyouya would have told him already. She nodded and excused herself to go do some homework in her room.

About halfway through all of the assignments she had to do, Ranka called out that he was leaving, and Haruhi acknowledged him, never letting her eyes leave the problems. Once she was done with everything, though, her eyes wandered to the innocent little bag on the other side of her bed, hiding the pink and red swimsuit just out of view. She sighed. Why would she ever wear something like that? It was skimpier than her actual undergarments!

Haruhi sighed and walked over to the bag, snatching the outfit from its shallow depths and grudgingly changing into it. When she had it on and had made sure that it covered everywhere that it needed to, she tied the skirt firmly around her waist and went to see her reflection.

Haruhi stared at the mirror. For once, she actually looked... feminine. She twisted to this side and that side, studying the fabric. Her size-A bust line somehow looked magically a bit more developed and her boyish hips looked, by some trick, more soft and girly than before. She tugged the skirt down a bit onto her hips so that it hung crookedly off of one side and revealed a bit of bare thigh on the other and she chuckled. Those rich guys really did know what they were talking about at times.

As Haruhi twisted around again to get a look at the back of the outfit, a knock on the front door interrupted her thoughts. "Ah! Coming!" she called, a bit flustered. She glanced around for something to slip on, but saw only her school outfit. If she put her jacket on, it would really look like she was in her underclothes, and if she took the time to get the entire thing on...

Another knock issued from the door and Haruhi sighed. She ran to the door and opened it, wearing nothing more than the swimsuit.

Tamaki blinked when he saw her standing in her doorway, wearing the outfit the twins had picked for her. He had been expecting her to have some casual clothes on, or at least to not be wearing that swimming suit again. He suddenly had unbidden images of Haruhi blushing and looking up at him, telling him that she had hoped he would come over so that he could see her like this without anyone else around.

"Sempai?" Haruhi asked.

Her words broke Tamaki out of his mild fantasy and he shook his head. "Ha—Haruhi. I..." He looked confused all of a sudden. "Why are you wearing that again?"

Haruhi felt her face flush a bit and she tugged at the skirt, mostly hiding behind the door. "I... there wasn't a mirror I could look at to see how it looked at the school," she explained, bushing. "But anyway, why are you here?" she asked indignantly and with a hint of embarrassment.

Tamaki's mouth opened and closed slowly, looking slightly like a goldfish, until he was shoved inside by twin pairs of hands behind him.

"Ah, Tono is so rude!" Hikaru said as he brushed his hands off and Tamaki fell onto his face.

Kaoru nodded. "He was just standing in a lady's door and gawking at her, wasn't he?" he said, also dusting his hands off.

Tamaki rolled over and pointed a shaking finger at the Hitachiin brothers. "That is untrue! A gentleman would never gawk!"

The twins nodded as they stepped into the room. "Of course not; but you would," they chorused with a wicked glint in their smiles.

Haruhi, during this, was peeking around her door. "Did anyone else come this time?" she asked curiously. As she asked this, she saw a head of black hair climbing the steps, glasses resting before his eyes. "Ah! Kyouya-kun?" she asked, seeing him.

Kyouya glanced up and smiled warmly at her. "Ah. Good afternoon, Haruhi," he said kindly as he approached the door. "May I come in?"

Haruhi nodded, realizing then that the twins and Tamaki had just waltzed in without permission. She sighed and inwardly shrugged. "Anyway, why are you guys here?" she asked curiously.

Kyouya dug through his pocket and pulled out his wallet, retrieving from it a small ticket with a logo emblazoned across it. "We wanted to give you your plane ticket," he said, handing her the small piece of paper.

Haruhi studied the slip of paper curiously before looking up at him. "It's not going to be out of the country, is it? This beach trip?"

Kyouya shook his head. "No, it will be in Japan, but it will be easiest and quickest to get there by plane," he explained.

Haruhi nodded. "But why did you need me to have this instead of keeping it with you? And why did all four of you come?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

Kyouya adjusted his glasses. "That's an easy question to answer. The fact is that these three wanted to see you."

Haruhi nodded. "But then... why did you come along as well, Kyouya-sempai?" Haruhi couldn't see much reason for the Shadow King to see fit to personally drop off her ticket to her.

"There was merit in making sure these three didn't lose the ticket or forget why they had come here in the first place."

Haruhi nodded, and then realized that the other three had since wandered into her house, gaping and gawking over nearly everything in her kitchen as if they had never been in there before. She sighed. "I see."

Kyouya studied her expression and wondered if he should try to keep these three away from her house from now on. "Haruhi, would you like it if Tamaki and the twins didn't come by here anymore without pressing matters?"

Haruhi glanced up and was about to answer when desperate cries for help interrupted her along with a high-pitched whirring.

"Haruhi, help us! It's awakened and wants revenge!" Tamaki cried in desperation, pressed firmly against the wall farthest from the food processor he and the twins had accidentally turned on. The twins stood at least a meter away from it on either side, slowly inching forward as they attempted to muster courage to near it, and darting backward when they lost their nerve to approach the savagely growling appliance.

Haruhi sighed and walked straight up to the food processor, ignoring the cries of warning from the three overreacting young men. She reached out and pressed a single button, and the machine slowed to silence.

The entire room was quiet for a few moments, with not even the sounds of breath from Tamaki, Kaoru and Hikaru to break the silence. Finally, Tamaki whispered, "Is it... safe?"

Haruhi nodded and beckoned him closer.

Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru all slowly made their way to Haruhi's side as she turned around, holding the dangerous, frightening household device. As she turned around, they leaned in close, staring at the food processor in fascination.

Haruhi glanced up, making eye contact with Kyouya. She smiled, and then turned the food processor on again.

Instantly, three male heads shot up and the three of them scrambled away from the whirring machine, racing toward the door and out onto the front landing.

Haruhi laughed as she shut the machine off and placed it once again on the counter. She looked up at Kyouya, who was smirking slightly, and then laughed even more.

Kyouya walked over to her and placed his hand on her bare shoulder. "We will take our leave then," he said, ignoring the way his heart rate sped up slightly when he touched her skin.

Haruhi smiled up at him and nodded. "I'll see you all tomorrow," she replied.

Kyouya bowed his head in accord and made his way to the door, stopping before he passed through it. He called her name softly and when she looked up at him, he smiled. "For all their oddities, the twins certainly do have a good eye for fashion," he said.

Haruhi nodded as she watched Kyouya leave, not really realizing that the Shadow King had just said that she looked nice.

**---------------**

**Author's Note:** Tada! Yay, I've FINALLY started my own Host Club fanfic! fanfares Please let me know what you thought! I'll try to write more soon, but since I'm still in school (sadly), I'm not sure when the next installment will be. But I'll do my best to not let this story die! Thanks for reading! Love, Koya


	2. Chapter 2

**Pairing(s): **KyouyaxHaruhi, MorixHaruhi, KaoruxHaruhi, HikaruxHaruhi, TamakixHaruhi  
**Rating:** PG, I guess...  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters or settings that I use in this story. I'm just borrowing them and putting them in my own situations. No copyright infringement is intended, and this is purely written with regards to the Fair Use doctrine, and so on, and so forth, and all that loveliness. So please don't sue or get your knickers in a bunch about any of this, okay? Any original characters or settings will be stated as such. All characters and setting are property of their respectful owners and not me, sad though I am to admit it. (This one had an imaginary plane (I've never actually been on one, so it kind of has to be imaginary for me) and beach that happens to be facing south, just so you know.)  
**Warnings:** I'm trying to give everyone a fair share of Haruhi's affections, but it might get a bit OOC at places. Please also forgive me if it seems that I'm favoring one character over another. In this one, it's mostly Kyouya and Mori, but I AM trying to keep it mostly balanced overall, honest. Also, I am my own Beta editor, so if you find any typos or anything, please also feel free to point them out.  
**Also:** Please feel free to let me know how I can improve or to give me suggestions. I really appreciate it.  
**Shoutouts:** I'd like to shoutout to not only TheJadeSpirit and Yue Guang Kuroneko for their awesome Host Club fanfictions, but to everyone that added this story to their favorites or alerts or who reviewed! Chapter one got nine reviews within about two days! -happy dances- THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! XD  
**Discription:** Haruhi is the only girl in the Host Club. So what happens when the rest of the guys start to realize that this makes her different... in a very intriguing way?

**---------------**

**Kiss, Kiss, Fall in Love?  
**_Chapter Two:_

Haruhi stared blankly at the clock during the final minutes of her last class on Thursday afternoon. The next day would be a non-school day for some reason or another that she didn't pay attention to, and that meant that her and the rest if the Hosts would be able to leave for Kyouya's family's beach in who knows what city before it got too late in the day, and there spend the afternoon light on the sand and in the surf and sun. 

And Haruhi would probably end up actually being in the water this time because she would be wearing her new swimsuit anyway.

She would be wearing the skimpy, flashy new pink and red swimsuit the twins had picked out for her, on the beach, and with the other members of the Host Club. Alone. On a private beach.

Haruhi sighed as she let herself lean forward and she cradled her forehead with her hands on top of her desk. She closed her eyes, willing time itself to halt its progression along the face of the clock, and jolted up when the bell rang.

"Haruhi, wake up," Kaoru said, nudging her.

"You fell asleep? Was it just me? I thought that test was pretty challenging," Hikaru muttered good-naturedly as he stood.

Haruhi smiled at them. "I wasn't asleep," she said. "I was just thinking about the trip," she answered their questioning looks truthfully.

Hikaru and Kaoru nodded, each one taking one of her arms in the crook of his elbow. "Then let's get going so we can make time go by faster!" Hikaru said.

Kaoru nodded his head emphatically. "Because time goes slower if you pay attention to it, as everyone knows."

Haruhi nodded, sighing inwardly. She had to agree that it would be easier to worry about the trip after Club duties rather than before, but decided that she deserved a bit of time to worry, at least.

When the twins and Haruhi entered the third music room, they were greeted by the dull roar of distant waves and quiet cries of seagulls. Haruhi blinked. She hadn't blanked out on the past twenty-four hours, had she? It was still Thursday, right?

"Kaoru. Hikaru. Go change," Tamaki commanded, appearing as if from nowhere, wearing nothing more than loose swim trunks that were a bright red and orange. They both nodded and ran off to change, each of them pulling a pair of trunks out from somewhere on their person.

Haruhi blinked, desperately hoping that she would not be forced to wear a swimsuit today.

"Haruhi," Tamaki said, tossing her a bundle of fabric. "Change into this."

Haruhi deftly caught the outfit and looked confusedly at it. Surprisingly, it seemed to be something that she might have actually considered wearing of her own volition. There was a baggy shirt and some knee-length cargo shorts as well as a set of flip flops. She looked up at Tamaki, her eyes shining with mild gratitude.

Tamaki smiled before ordering her to go change. As she nodded and ran off, the twins returned, Hikaru wearing a dark teal set of trunks and Kaoru sporting a matching set in dark orange.

"Haruhi's not going to wear a bathing suit?" Kaoru asked with a hint of a whine.

"I've been looking forward to seeing it," Hikaru complained, agreeing with his twin brother.

Tamaki whirled on the twins, his eyes burning. Before he could even threaten them, however, Kyouya broke in, interrupting whatever thoughts had been swirling in Tamaki's head.

"Haruhi will be wearing her swimsuit at the beach tomorrow, so we won't need to make her wear it today." He adjusted his glasses slightly. "That way, she'll have to wear it on the actual beach. Thus, she won't be able to say that she's already worn it at the beach."

Tamaki and the twins nodded, though they did so while looking like they had not fully followed the train of logic. Kyouya shook his head in mild defeat and left them to their thoughts.

---------------

Haruhi sighed as she sat down on a beach chair a short walk from where her regular customers were playing in the water. Haruhi had given up wondering how the Club had gotten the music room to become a miniature water park, where the water had come from, where it was going to go afterward, and such questions shortly after she had abandoned the question of why. She sighed and closed her eyes, tilting her face toward the lights.

A shadow passed across her closed eyes as someone sat down in the chair beside her, and she opened one eye to identify her new companion. "Ah! Mori-sempai," she greeted as she sat up.

Mori nodded, silent.

Haruhi swung her legs to the side and placed her feet on the ground between the two long chairs. "Where did Hunny-sempai go?" she asked curiously.

Mori nodded in the direction of the group of girls that surrounded the short, cute senior. Haruhi saw that it was made up of not only Hunny and Mori's regular customers, but that her own regulars had joined the throng. Haruhi nodded, smiling. "I see," she said understandingly.

Mori smiled at her warmly, and then let his gaze drift over to Hunny.

"Ne, Mori-sempai?" Haruhi asked. "May I ask you something?"

Mori nodded silently to her, his eyes kind and quiet, but still warm.

Haruhi attempted to phrase her thoughts correctly. "Why do the twins and Tamaki seem to get so many more designations than you do?" Haruhi then stopped herself, fearing that she had said something out of place. "I mean, I've seen you with the people who designate you, but... what is it about those three that makes them so... I guess, what makes them so desirable?"

Mori lifted an eyebrow slightly.

"I was just thinking," Haruhi started, but then couldn't decide how to finish.

Mori smiled. "They're loud," he quietly explained in his deep, soft voice.

Haruhi peeked up at the tall senior and studied him for a while. She then glanced over to where Tamaki and the twins were having a water fight with some girls and she sighed. "I see. I suppose that does make all the difference."

"Whoa! Whoops!" Hikaru gasped, chuckling as the water balloon he had intended to toss to Kaoru missed Kaoru altogether and instead made a graceful arc in the direction of where Mori and Haruhi sat on long beach chairs. 

Haruhi didn't have time to even see the water balloon that was headed for her before she found herself in Mori's lap as he held her protectively. A splash had sounded from where she had been sitting, and she eventually twisted around in an attempt to regain her bearings.

"Sorry!" the twins called in unison, already once again deeply involved in their game, not even having seen where the balloon had ended up.

Haruhi stared at the chair she had been sitting on, and then slowly lifted her gaze to her rescuer, who was staring at the scraps and bits of balloon with an unreadable, nearly blank expression. When he turned his eyes to Haruhi, he smiled and she suddenly found it inexplicably difficult to look away. He saved her the trouble by sitting up from his semi-reclined position with her still in his arms and gently set her down beside him on the lounge chair.

Haruhi fumbled for words for a moment. "Anou... thank you, Mori-sempai..." she said quietly.

Mori turned his head slightly in order to smile warmly at her in return, nodding slightly as he did so.

Haruhi smiled a little back at him and they sat side by side in silence for a while, watching with quiet smiles as the rest of the guests and hosts played all around them.

---------------

Haruhi sighed as she stared at the seat opposite hers on the so-called private airplane that to her seemed to be only slightly smaller than a jumbo jet. Hunny was racing all over everywhere, the twins were popping up over the back of her chair nearly incessantly to tell her random things, and Tamaki was sitting across the hallway from her, tapping his foot rhythmically and watching her with all the intensity of a starving hawk that had found a rodent to hunt, if that hawk had had some sort of a mild attention deficiency. Mori, in contrast, was sitting in silence and calmly watching Hunny's circuits around the passenger area, and Kyouya was talking with the pilot and copilot and making sure that everything was cleared and ready for their trip.

Haruhi found her foot twitching nervously and she forced it to stop. There was nothing to be nervous about. She was only about to take a plane trip to a private beach where she would spend a weekend alone with six very handsome and, she had to admit, very influential young men, wearing primarily a very skimpy and, admittedly, flattering swimsuit that said young men had decided she would wear. There was absolutely nothing to be nervous about, right? Her entire leg then began to take up the task of showing how nervous she was.

An announcement chimed over the plane's intercom system, and Haruhi barely heard the pilot telling them all to buckle in and all the normal things that pilots say to passengers during plane announcements. The next thing that she was aware of was Kaoru tapping her shoulder from her right.

"Haruhi, are you all right?" he asked curiously. "You've had that scared expression since before the plane left the ground.

Haruhi blinked and then nodded her head reassuringly.

Hikaru looked over at Kaoru and smiled as Kaoru decided that it would be a good idea to change the topic. "So Haruhi, are you looking forward to this trip?" he asked amiably.

Haruhi shrugged. "It should prove to be amusing, at least," she said with a blank, wide-eyed stare at the back of the seat in front of her.

Kaoru nodded, noting that even more of a topic change would be needed. Hikaru took the cue. "So... it was quite unfortunate that you couldn't wear your new outfit yesterday, wasn't it?" Hikaru said conversationally.

Haruhi shrugged again. "Not really. Things work out better if our customers believe me to be male, after all."

Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other in frank incredulity across Haruhi's blank stare. How she could be so noncommittal was beyond them. If things kept on like this, the rest of the plane trip would prove to be very boring indeed.

"So, Haruhi-chan," Hikaru began, leaning forward slightly in contemplation. "If you were forced to pick..."

Kaoru continued his brother's thought, mirroring his movement by also leaning slightly forward. "...Only one person to be with in this plane..."

"...Who would it be?" they chorused, turning to face her.

Haruhi blinked herself free of staring at the seat before her and instead looked at each of the twins in turn. "One person... in this plane...?"

Hikaru and Kaoru nodded in unison, each one a perfect mirror image of the other. "Only one," they repeated.

Haruhi placed a finger on her chin as she thought about it. "I guess then... it would probably have to be..."

The twins nodded, grinning in eager anticipation of her answer. "Yes?"

Haruhi pointed upward, eyes lighting up suddenly. "The pilot!"

Hikaru and Kaoru both nearly fell out of their chairs. "What?" they demanded in unison, utterly confused and taken aback by her answer. Had she even so much as seen the pilot?

"Well, I suppose the copilot would do just as well," Haruhi postulated.

"Why?" the twins inquired in disbelief.

Haruhi tilted her head. "Because I know he could land the plane safely," she answered simply. "If there was only one other person in the plane along with me, I would want it to be someone who could land the plane safely." She looked at them with innocent, truthful eyes. "Why? Who else would I be expected to pick? Wasn't that kind of an easy question?"

Hikaru and Kaoru both sank into their seats, sighing in defeat. Haruhi's purity was one of the many things that made her endearing to not only them, but nearly everyone she associated with, but it was also one of the few things that could, at times, cause those around her quite a deal of frustration. This was one of those times.

As Hikaru opened his mouth to rephrase the question he had asked into the question he had actually wanted answered, he was interrupted by a beep from the intercom that told them that they could unbuckle. He did, and stood up. "Ah, that was such a long time to be forced to sit still!" he complained.

Kaoru scoffed lightly with a smile. "What about in class?"

Hikaru waved the question off, stating that he needed to stretch his legs for a bit. Kaoru stood and followed him as he made his way down the plane.

Haruhi smiled, leaned her head back against the headrest on her seat, and promptly dozed off.

---------------

Haruhi followed the six young men off of the plane and toward the huge mansion that Kyouya led the way to, explaining to Haruhi that all of her luggage would be taken to her room while they ate lunch, and after lunch, they could all spend a few hours on the beach.

Hikaru and Kaoru then caught up with Haruhi and explained in secret to her their plans of having fireworks on the beach once the sun set. Haruhi smiled in spite of herself at the thought of playing with sparklers with the boys, and nodded. Hunny, of course, instantly picked up on any mention of fun happenings, and announced his delight at the plans, only to be shushed by the twins.

"Kyouya-sempai might nix the idea before we even get it started!" Hikaru hissed warningly.

"Would that keep you from doing it?" Haruhi asked.

Hikaru and Kaoru both grinned. "Of course not," Kaoru said as he placed one arm around Haruhi's shoulders.

"When has not being allowed to do something..." Hikaru added, slipping his own arm around her waist.

"...Ever stopped us?" they finished in perfect unison.

Haruhi smiled, unable to argue.

"Exactly," they said with matching grins on their handsome faces.

---------------

Their lunch that day was a lavish feast of various sorts of seafood and sushi, and lasted for what seemed entirely too long to the twins, not nearly long enough to Haruhi. They ate it on a large open veranda that overlooked the bright blue-green sea, and the salty breeze teased and tempted them away from their seats and onto the sand.

It seemed to Haruhi that she and Kyouya were the only ones there who were not simply rearing to race through the sand. Once they had all been allowed to go and change into their swimsuits for a few hours on the beach, everyone but her and Kyouya had run off without so much as a backwards glance, Mori being led by the hand by an overly enthusiastic Hunny.

Haruhi sighed as she stood slowly up.

"You seem uneager to go change," Kyouya said conversationally, watching her through his thin-rimmed glasses.

Haruhi glanced at him, looking slightly guilty. She chuckled. "I guess so," she said nervously as she pushed her chair in and stood behind it, lingering there.

Kyouya stood as well. "I see. Well, it would be quite a waste if we got back and you hadn't worn it at all, wouldn't it? Especially since your debt would be lowered if you did," he said as he passed behind her chair.

"About that," Haruhi said, beginning to turn around. She had begun to ask him why he would do something like that, but her foot got caught on the chair leg and the inquiry became a gasp of shock as she fell forward.

Kyouya stretched out his arm and caught her before she fell very far, and pulled her instinctively into his arms.

Haruhi felt her heart thudding in her chest as she felt herself once again pressed gently against a warm male chest in only so many days, and she slowly peered up at him in curiosity. His glasses were at such an angle that she could not see past the glare of sunlight into his eyes, but he seemed to be looking at her regardless.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly, helping her stand up properly.

Haruhi nodded, feeling her cheeks flush slightly as she took a step back, giving them both a bit more space.

"Haru-chan, Haru-chan! Hurry up, hurry up!" Hunny called up to her from the beach, waving at her from atop Mori's shoulders. Mori sent her a rare half-smile and she waved back.

"I'm sorry, I... have to leave," she said, bowing to Kyouya. "I'll see you soon, Kyouya-sempai," she said before leaving and making her way to her room.

Kyouya simply smiled and adjusted his glasses.

---------------

"Haruhi-chan!" Hikaru and Kaoru called when she passed the open doorway to their room. They ran out wearing swimming trunks that only differed in the color that they were, and saw her standing before the door to the room beside theirs.

Haruhi paused in the act of opening the huge door and glanced over at the approaching twins.

"Ah, is that the room that you'll be staying in?" Kaoru asked as he reached her.

"We're in the next room," Hikaru stated, standing on her other side.

The twins both grinned. "How lucky," they chorused with wide mischievous smirks.

Haruhi looked at a loss for an answer and instead merely nodded.

"You haven't changed yet?" Kaoru asked, though the answer was quite obvious.

Haruhi shook her head, confirming his assumption.

Hikaru's smile became, if it were possible, even more impish. "Would you like us to help you?"

Haruhi blinked in surprise, and then shook her head. "No, thank you, I'm fine," she stated. "I will be out shortly," she assured them as she opened the double doors and entered, turning around and closing them again carefully with the twins on the other side.

They called out that they would see her on the beach and left her alone in her room, chuckling with themselves despite their thwarted attempts at having some new kind of fun.

Haruhi sank down against the tall doors, feeling mildly trapped. She then sighed, resigning herself. She stared at the bag that she knew had her new bathing suit in it and stood up. It was pointless to try to hide from the truth any more.

---------------

Haruhi stepped out onto the hot sand wearing cute pink and white flip flops with tiny red flowers on it that had somehow found their way onto the bureau beside the door in her room. Haruhi was both relieved and slightly exasperated to find out that they matched the swim suit perfectly. She had also found a pair of pink-tinted sunglasses with thin red frames, arms, and bridge, and found that it also matched perfectly. Even knowing that the accessories must have been planted by one of the other Hosts, she could find no reason to not wear them.

Hunny noticed her first as she walked down the sand toward them, and he waved at her from the water with one arm, the other holding his Usa-chan floatation ring around his waist safely. "Haru-chan!" he called happily.

The twins barreled out of the water and raced to Haruhi, each tackling her in a hug when they reached her. "Haruhi!" they greeted her in delight, both embracing her tightly.

Haruhi managed to communicate her lack of a sufficient supply of air, and when they released her, she smiled and greeted them in return.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki called, extending the vowel sounds of her name out for entirely too long as he sped toward her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, lifting her up off of the sand as he spun her around. "You're even cuter than the last time I saw you in that outfit!" he declared. "You're three—no—four times cuter! Five times cuter! No! Ten times! What am I saying? You're always infinitely cuter every time I see you!"

Haruhi stumbled slightly once he set her down, quite dizzy. Her sandals had fallen off, and she tried looking around for them, but the world seemed to be spinning too much for her to do anything of the sort. She stumbled to one side and immediately felt strong hands catch her and steady her. She shook her head, effectively stopping the unnecessary shifts in the direction of gravity, and looked up, seeing Mori looking at her with a protective light in his eyes. He silently helped her stand once more once her eyes had stopped spinning, and then stood beside Hunny, who had also come to join the crowd that now surrounded Haruhi.

Haruhi smiled at them all and then looked around. "Where is Kyouya-sempai?" she asked curiously. He seemed to be the only one not there.

"That wet blanket hasn't even changed into his swimsuit!" Tamaki declared as if it was a travesty of the highest level as he pointed off to the side to where Kyouya sat in knee-length shorts and a loose-fitting polo shirt on a beach chair under a huge umbrella.

Haruhi straightened her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose as she looked over and saw him. "Is that such a bad thing?" she asked Tamaki innocently, looking up at him through the pinkish glass.

Tamaki blushed slightly at her cute expression and then cradled his chin in his index finger and thumb, closing his eyes. "The worst!" he answered her with conviction. "We can't all have fun on the beach if one of us is still working!" he stated.

"What is he working on?" Haruhi asked.

"We don't know," Hikaru and Kaoru answered together. "No one's been brave enough to ask."

Haruhi didn't pay attention to the last sentence as she broke through the circle of people surrounding her, walking up to Kyouya. "Kyouya-sempai?" she asked innocently. "What are you doing?"

Kyouya glanced up at her and closed the laptop with a soft click. "How can I help you?" he asked, skillfully avoiding the question.

Haruhi held her hands in front of her, tilting her head slightly to the side. "The others want you to be having fun with them," she explained straightforwardly.

Kyouya glanced at the others, who were by now back to playing their games in and beside the water. "I see no real purpose in it," he said simply, adjusting his glasses in front of his eyes. The glass was a few shades darker in the sunlight, and Haruhi guessed that it must have been the kind that got darker in bright light. "Also, this is more comfortable to me."

"Oh," Haruhi said. "Then... can I go change as well? I feel much more comfortable in shorts and a tee shirt as well, you see."

Kyouya looked up at her, confusion visible on his face. He was silent for a few moments, and then stood, placing his laptop on his chair. "Then I will return shortly," he said.

"Kyouya-sempai?" Haruhi asked.

"It seems only fair for me to be in attire similar to that everyone else is in, does it not?" he said calmly.

Haruhi sighed, her brief hopes of being able to wear a normal outfit utterly and completely deflated. "I see."

Kyouya smiled slightly in her direction as she turned and walked toward Hunny and Mori, not noticing his gaze at all. He then headed inside to change into his swimming outfit.

---------------

Haruhi sat on the sand, watching the water as the brilliant sunset settled down slowly on her right. She removed her feet from her sandals and dug her feet into the sand. Hunny and Mori sat some distance in front of her, facing the sunset. Hunny's head was tilted to the side as he leaned against Mori's chest, dozing peacefully.

Tamaki was off to the other side, trying to finish his sand castle before he lost the last remaining bits of daylight he had. Though it had started as a meager pile of sand, it was now almost as tall as Haruhi was and intricately detailed, with battlements and towers as well as doors, windows, and even a rock-lined moat complete with a drawbridge made out of seaweed and driftwood.

Kyouya was sitting in his chair once more, staring at the screen of his laptop. He had changed back into casual clothes just before the sun had begun to set, much to Tamaki's reconciled despair.

The twins had left to go get their fireworks from inside a short time ago, so Haruhi was left in relative silence with only the sounds of waves and the last remaining seagulls as they cried out across the water to one another. She closed her eyes happily and soon felt a warm cloth drape over her shoulders.

"It's starting to cool down," Kyouya said as he sat down beside her. "It might be a good idea to go change now.

Haruhi hugged Kyouya's light but warm jacket around her shoulders, shaking her head. She wanted to be there when the twins got back so she wouldn't miss out on the sparklers. "I'm fine," she said. "Thank you. I'll change later, though."

Kyouya nodded and stared out at the dark, restless water, a few times, sneaking clandestine glances in her direction. She looked so small and innocent as she sat there, only her legs and fingertips visible from under his jacket. He allowed himself a small smile and turned his gaze back to the dim waves when he heard the voices of the twins laughing as they approached them once more. He turned to look at them and saw that they were each carrying bags of what looked like fireworks. Kyouya sighed and stood.

"Haruhi! We've got them!" the twins shouted happily as they ran toward her. They didn't even pay attention to Kyouya standing beside her.

"What are you guys being so noisy about now?" Tamaki asked haughtily, having finished his castle just before the sun had sunk completely below the horizon.

Hikaru pulled a small lighter out of his pocket and Kaoru tugged a box of sparklers from one of the bags. "Fireworks," they answered, grinning.

Hunny rubbed his eyes as Mori carried him over. "Fireworks, Takashi?" he asked sleepily. "Can I have a sparkler?"

Mori made a noise of affirmation and Hunny smiled.

"I'd like one, too," Haruhi said, standing up and holding the jacket closed around her shoulders with one hand.

Soon Kaoru was handing sparklers to everyone, Tamaki was asking what sparklers did and what they were for, and Haruhi was attempting to explain to him the tradition of holding the stick still, upside-down, until the sparks stopped. Tamaki seemed enthralled, and it was obvious that he was making notes of this particular aspect of commoner culture for future reference.

Once Tamaki and Hunny got bored of lighting sparklers, which was shortly after they discovered that Kaoru had no more to give them, they began with the bigger fireworks. Hikaru gave the lighter to Haruhi, since she had said that she had had experience with lighting fireworks before, and Tamaki, Hunny, Kaoru and Hikaru huddled, crouched on the sand and hugging their knees to their chests, watching her prepare the fireworks with ever-growing excitement.

As Haruhi carried one firework to a safe distance and lit it, Tamaki felt his excitement level reaching dangerous amounts, and when she ran back to stand near them, he stood up quickly as the first shot soared upward, and shouted loudly as it exploded in the sky.

Kyouya and Mori remained silent, watching the fireworks with slight smiles, and Hunny and Haruhi made cute little sounds of admiration every time one exploded. Hikaru, Kaoru and Tamaki, however, made quite a ruckus whenever a firework went off, shouting and hollering boisterously, clapping and whistling almost louder than the explosions themselves.

The last firework they set off for the night was one with many shells that shot off in succession, one after another. They watched the sparkling explosions with smiles, no one bothering to count how many shells fired off. When the box stopped shooting them, though, they assumed that it had finished. They all applauded themselves and stood one by one, deciding that it was too dark to try cleaning up tonight, but that they would in the morning.

"So did you have fun, Haruhi?" Hikaru asked from behind her.

Haruhi turned around to face him and nodded. "Yes, thank you both," she said to both of the twins with a smile. She had long since gotten over her nervousness thanks to them all, and had even forgotten that she was wearing little more than a bikini and an oversized jacket.

Hunny yawned as Mori lifted him onto his shoulders. "I'm going to go to bed," he said, his eyes drooping already.

"Yes," Tamaki said, "I believe that is a good plan." He nodded and followed Mori and Hunny toward the house. The twins chased after him, wanting to talk about the day's events, and left Haruhi in the darkness of the beach with Kyouya standing nearby.

Haruhi glanced at Kyouya, figuring that she would walk in with him since everyone else had already left, and followed him toward the chair where he had left his laptop.

Kyouya glanced at Haruhi as they reached the chair and the large umbrella, utilizing the darkness to disguise the action if she had happened to notice it. She didn't seem to, so he relaxed.

"Kyouya-sempai?" Haruhi asked from behind him quietly.

Kyouya turned halfway toward her. "Yes?"

Haruhi opened her mouth to ask something, but froze when a final stray shell flew out of the last firework container far behind them, exploding loudly in the air. The sudden bright light and sound reminded her of lightning, and she cringed, running away from it with her eyes closed tightly.

Kyouya watched her expression suddenly turn to utter fear, and he caught her in his arms when she ran toward him blindly. He held her for a bit while she shook, and slowly whispered her name once. She stopped shaking slowly, and then peered up at him timidly, eyes still showing how scared she was. "It's okay," he whispered warmly. "It was just a stray firework. It's gone."

Haruhi nodded, blushing from embarrassment at the display of fear. "Y—yes. Sorry."

Kyouya let her go, and watched her as she held his jacket closed tightly around her torso, her arms not even through the sleeves but rather gripping the zipper from inside. She looked apprehensively to the side, appearing small to him once again, and he couldn't help but hug her tightly.

Haruhi blinked as she suddenly found herself in a tight, warm embrace. "Kyouya-sempai?" she asked, confused.

"Haruhi," he whispered softly into her ear. "I love you."

**---------------**

**Author's Note:** Yaaaaaay! -applauds Kyouya- Hooray for him for letting me give you guys a cliffhanger! I've never been really good at cliffies, so this is cool for me! Yes, I know how it is for the audience, but please understand my point of view! XD Oh, and if he seems a bit OOC, like with the smiling and such, it's because... well, I don't really know. Maybe he's seeing that he's winning something or summat... I really don't know. I just calls 'em like I sees 'em. (That's what happened with the food processor in ch1 and the water balloon in this chapter, for example. Things happen in my brain and I just write them down.) Anyway, please review and favorite and such if you have time! I appreciate it super-amounts! It makes Koya a REALLY happy writer, which is needed for writing stories like this, especially in the middle of the school year. Anyway, thanks for reading!!! -bows-


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